Valley Cougars clinch top spot in the Premier League table
Valley Cougars finished top of the Welsh Premier League table for the second year in a row after beating Cardiff Blue Dragons 44-6 in Treharris on Saturday.
It was a tough game for both sides on a pitch that was primarily sun-drenched yellow, with Cardiff, again fielding five players under 18, accrediting themselves well.
Paul Emanuelli, who stepped into the Cougars side after a player was injured in the warm-up, scored the first try with 10 minutes gone. Mike Hurley converted.
Jamie Marsh set up Lee Goddard in a good move for the second, before Adam Watton slid in for the third try. Hurley converted both making it 18-0.
Good defence from Cardiff forced Dave Smith to drop the ball when diving underneath the sticks but Cougars did eventually score a fourth after Shane Lee pushed off a number of Cardiff players to ground. With Hurley off the field, Marsh missed the kick leaving it 22-0 at the break.
Cougars took 15 minutes to get their next try when skipper Scott Britton scored under the sticks on 55 minutes, but Ben Jones soon followed him over. Tom Warner got the seventh Cougars try with Hurley converting all three.
Cardiff, who never game up, did hit back with a short kick-off that led to a Duane Iles try that Daf Green converted, but in the final minute of the game, Goddard ran over for his second and Cougars’ eighth.
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